Fix youth homelessness to keep adults from life on street, report says
Targeting youth homelessness is the best way to prevent adults from ending up on the street, says a new report that calls on governments to apply the housing-first approach to this at-risk demographic.
A Way Home Ottawa was created in July 2015 after several agencies brought together by the Alliance to End Homelessness received close to $150,000 in funding from the United Way to develop a coordinated, community strategy to address youth homelessness.
More than 900 youth stayed in an Ottawa shelter at some point last year.
In addition to prioritizing housing as an intervention for youth homelessness, the group also emphasizes increased prevention and long-term supports for youth, while moving away from the emergency intervention model of the shelter system that currently exists.
The Opportunity Project report, which will be launched at a barbecue at Ottawa City Hall on Tuesday, envisions what it calls “systems-level changes.”
“It is not a question of giving out second-hand clothing, non-perishable food items and a handful of money, though we don’t want to dissuade well-meaning citizens who offer this type of invaluable help,” said Corinne Sauvé, cochair of A Way Home Ottawa’s steering committee. “The most significant contribution, however, would be to remove the barriers that prevent street youth from leading the type of life that they aspire to.”
Part of that change could come from a better understanding of what make homeless youth different.
In many cases, they leave home early, which often means a break from their family, school and other support networks.
But this happens at a crucial time when these young people are in the middle of developing skills that adults use to survive independently, such as knowing one’s tenant’s rights, setting up home Internet, keeping a budget or cooking for yourself.
“If youth are separated from this support, they often have few resources to draw from to help them develop these skills,” the report says.
Fleeing a violent home and involvement in the child welfare system are the main pathways to youth homelessness, the report says. But youth who are First Nations, Inuit and Métis, as well as LGBTQ, are susceptible. And a relatively new trend observed by workers on the front line is the growing numbers of recent immigrants or refugees who end up homeless.
The Housing First approach, which provides housing and supports for a person who is homeless, regardless of their employment, substance use or other barriers, has become a guiding approach in responding to adult homelessness in Canada.
Now, A Way Home Ottawa would like to see that approach applied to homeless youth.
To do this, the report makes several recommendations, some of which would cost money and others that could be done fairly cheaply.
It calls on governments to create rent supplements or housing allowances for youth and increase the shelter portion of social assistance to better reflect average market rent.
Ontario Works, for example, provides $376 per month for shelter, but the average Ottawa rent for a bachelor in 2015 was $801.
It suggests creating more partnerships with universities and colleges to support at-risk youth who want to pursue further education and expand life-skills classes aimed at youth living independently for the first time, as well as access to professional mentors and peer support.
And it calls for the development of a city-wide, inter-agency referral protocol for youth who are homeless or at risk that would be widely known by agencies and teachers, so there is one access point for youth to connect with services they need.
The report was informed by focus groups and interviews with more than 70 youth who have experienced homelessness, as well as 50 staff members from various agencies that work with homeless youth.
“They are the experts of their own experience and have provided immense advice and ideas about what works and what can be improved about the support systems for homeless youth,” the report said.